Jill Segger

To follow in the way of Jesus should make rank and status irrelevant, says Jill Segger, in the second of a series on Quaker values. Our equal value and dignity before God can re-shape our relationships with each other.

It has been well said that peace is not the absence of noise, trouble or hard work – rather it is to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart, says Jill Segger in the first of a series on the Quaker Testimonies.

Mercy cannot be earned, says Jill Segger. It is not a quid pro quo. It is pure gift and whenever we exercise it, we come closer to the Divine nature. The Ali al-Megrahi case makes us uncomfortable about this - and necessarily so.

The values we are willing to tolerate and those we would like, need to be brought closer together, says Jill Segger. Forgiveness and grace need to be part of the picture if destruction is not to reign.

To fear one's doubts and to deny them, is to take away the silence from the music and the space from the sculpture, says Jill Segger. As with all untruth, denial demeans, diminishes and eventually destroys.

War and military service can be a male attractant, says Jill Segger. If we will work with the grain of male nature wherever conscience permits and be honest in respecting its virtues, we will hold a better chance of being heard when we are compelled to stand against it.

A a simple integrity can rebuke our culture's debased and profligate way with words, say Jill Segger. Restraint in communication is counter-cultural. Humanity is wisest when it recognises the best words as those taking flesh rather than fury.

Conformity and concern about image are the enemies of truth, says Jill Segger. Yet they are everywhere in our testosterone-driven culture. Purity of heart enables us to respond to the unconventional or unexpected with integrity, as well as feeding clear-sighted conscience.